


all this week i've had butterflies

by montygreenbean (bottomoftheocean)



Category: The 100 (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, Boyfriends, F/F, F/M, First Kiss, First Meetings, Fluff, Legally Blonde, M/M, Musical Theatre AU, Pining, clarke griffin as elle woods, minty, murphy is an asshole as always, nathan miller as emmett forrest
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-04
Updated: 2018-04-04
Packaged: 2019-04-18 06:49:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 9,018
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14207463
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/bottomoftheocean/pseuds/montygreenbean
Summary: Agreeing to help his best friend Raven Reyes program and operate the stage lights for their school’s production ofLegally Blonde: The Musicalwas one of Monty Green’s better ideas, or at least he thought so. Not only did it give him a rare chance to branch out from his usual work with computers and robotics, but he’d made several new friends during the rehearsal process too -- something he could never be upset about, seeing as prior to this he’d basically only had Raven, and, if he was feeling particularly desperate for socialization, the asshole kid in his AP Computer Science class whose name he could hardly remember. Hanging out with this new crowd was quite the change in scene from the quiet computer lab, but Monty had absolutely no qualms, especially since Nathan Miller was a part of it.or, Raven shows Monty that there's more to life than computer science, and he finds himself suddenly half in love with Nathan Miller.





	all this week i've had butterflies

**Author's Note:**

> heya pals!
> 
> so i've always been really into musicals and musical theatre, and about a week ago, my roommate and i were messing around casting the characters in the 100 as parts in legally blonde.  
> of course, i got inspired by that cast list and this is what came out of it.
> 
> also, i use the phrases "the older boy" and "the younger boy" frequently in this so i thought i should make it clear that monty is a junior and miller is a senior.
> 
> title is a lyric from "omigod you guys" (from legally blonde, of course!)  
> and, as always, the characters are the properties of the cw and kass morgan.
> 
> if you're interested, i'll also put the cast list we made in the end notes! :)

Agreeing to help his best friend Raven Reyes program and operate the stage lights for their school’s production of  _ Legally Blonde: The Musical _ was one of Monty Green’s better ideas, or at least he thought so. Not only did it give him a rare chance to branch out from his usual work with computers and robotics, but he’d made several new friends during the rehearsal process too -- something he could never be upset about, seeing as prior to this he’d basically only had Raven, and, if he was feeling particularly desperate for socialization, the asshole kid in his AP Computer Science class whose name he could hardly remember. Hanging out with this new crowd was quite the change in scene from the quiet computer lab, but Monty had absolutely no qualms, especially since Nathan Miller was a part of it.

Since Monty was taking part in the programming as well as the performances, he had to be at some of the early rehearsals with Raven so they could discuss their idea of how they wanted to light the stage during each part of the show. The first day he had accompanied his friend to rehearsal, she had interrupted the rehearsal with the intention of sharing “huge news, I promise!” with the cast. The choreographer, Anya, looked only mildly murderous as she stepped aside and let Raven have the floor, forcing Monty to center stage with her.

She talked him up probably far more than necessary and then introduced him to everyone by both name and role, though Monty honestly stopped paying attention about halfway through. Didn’t Raven know that he would be meeting all these people in his own time, and that Anya was about thirty seconds away from pushing her off the stage? But then, he’d never known Raven to care all that much.

When Raven finally finished blathering on about him, she dragged him off to the left side of the stage. He shot an apologetic look towards Anya as they passed her, but was met only with the same stony glare she had sported the entire time. Monty decided she frightened him a little, and that he would do his best to stay on her good side -- or, at least, her not-bad side. 

Monty watched as Anya returned to the work she had been doing previously. The music for the opening track played over and over again as the actors learned the dance steps, and by the end of the evening, Monty had already heard  _ “Omigod, omigod you guys!”  _ more times than he ever cared to in his life. He could already tell it would be a long few months if all the songs were as annoying and repetitive as that one.

He griped to Raven about the song as they left the theatre, but she had nothing to say except to laugh at him because he  _ had  _ to have known what he was signing up for. Monty flipped her off with both hands, walking backwards down the hallway, until his body collided with something that was most decidedly  _ not  _ the door and he proceeded to scramble away so fast that he nearly face-planted on the tile.

He was met with the view of possibly the most attractive human on the planet -- and yes, he could still say this even after meeting Bellamy Blake. This boy’s neutral expression felt warm when Monty looked closely enough to see his rich, brown eyes (and he wasn’t going to get started on the  _ eyelashes  _ because there was no way those were even real). 

“Oh, hey Miller,” Raven said, “please do excuse Monty. He walks like a baby deer on a good day.”

Monty turned to Raven and said, “I feel like I’m supposed to take offense to that, but in all honesty it just sounds like you’re telling me I’m adorable.”

The other boy -- Miller? that’s what Raven had called him -- smirked. It felt a bit like a private moment, like Monty wasn’t supposed to have seen, but he  _ did _ , and it almost made him blush. 

“Monty, was it?” he asked, and when Monty nodded he held out a hand. “The name’s Nate, but everyone around here calls me Miller.”

Monty shook Nate’s hand with a smile. “You missed Raven’s lovely introduction when we got here earlier,” he said wryly. “She interrupted choreography to tell everyone I’m helping her with lighting, and Anya was so mad that I thought she was going to shoot lasers out of her eyes.”

The other boy looked to him reassuringly. “Don’t worry, she always kind of looks like that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen her smile. I’m honestly just glad I don’t have much choreography in this show so I don’t have to worry about her as much.”

“Yeah,” Raven added, and oh, Monty had already nearly forgotten she was there. “I’m really not sure why they cast someone with two left feet as the lead in a musical, but it seems you lucked out.”

“Okay, Reyes, I’ve gotten so much better at dancing since  _ Grease _ , and you know that.” Nate rolled his eyes fondly. “I could barely do a step-touch freshman year and now I’m at  _ least _ capable of a solid jazz square.”

Raven just shook her head, walking over to the two boys and resting a palm on Nate’s left shoulder. Monty felt Nate release his hand as she walked, and Monty hadn’t really registered that they had still been holding onto one another’s hands, but he couldn’t say he was upset about it. 

“You wish you were capable of a solid jazz square, honey,” Raven said with a chuckle. “Now listen, boys, I’ve gotta get home because Domino’s delivery is calling my name. Mon, if you want a ride, you might wanna hurry your ass up. I’ll be waiting in the car.” With that, she turned on a heel and strode away, leaving Monty and Nate alone in the hallway.

“Um, so,” Monty said, feeling about a million times more awkward in the presence of this boy now that he no longer had Raven for a buffer. “I don’t think I actually asked what you’re doing here, since you were obviously not called for rehearsal today?”

“Lincoln wanted me to come pick up my script, since I haven’t actually been called to  _ any _ rehearsals yet and couldn’t make the read-through.” Nate scratched at the back of his neck, looking nearly as uncomfortable as Monty himself felt. “I could’ve done it a week ago, but I’ve been slacking a little, and I think Lincoln’s annoyed already.”

Monty looked down at the hot pink book he’d just noticed in Nate’s left hand. “Oh, you’re Emmett!” he said, suddenly far more impressed. “You must be pretty good at what you do, then, hm?”

Nate contemplated this for a moment. “I mean, I’d hope so. It’s kinda what I want to do forever, you know?”

Monty just grinned. “That’s so cool! I wish I could have the confidence to get up on a stage and just  _ be.  _ But I really don’t have that capability, so I’ll stick to programming the lights I think.”

Nate nodded slowly, as though he understood completely. “I do hope you keep doing that -- Raven likes to think she has everything under control on her own, but she never really does, and then gets mad when Wick tries to help her.”

“Oh, trust me, I know all about her love-hate relationship with Kyle Wick. I hear about it every day of my life. Even more so now that I get the privilege of sharing the tech booth with both of them for the shows.”

Nate laughed, then, and Monty felt his stomach whoosh a little at the sound. Wow, this boy just  _ kept  _ getting more attractive. How was Monty ever to focus on ideas for light programming?

He then realized he had zoned out and missed what Nate was saying. “Hm?”

“I said, you should probably go and find her before she leaves without you.”

“Oh yeah,” Monty said, “you’re probably right.” He turned to pick up his backpack off the floor, slinging it over one shoulder and preparing to leave.

“It was good to meet you, Monty. I’m sure I’ll see you around.”

Monty smiled for a third time. It had been awhile since he’d smiled this much around anyone who wasn’t Raven. “Yeah, you too, Nate.” He waved at the other boy and followed the path Raven had taken a few moments before.

If he had bothered to turn back around, Monty would have seen the look of confusion on Nate’s face at being called by his first name, melt into a soft smile as he watched Monty leave. But he didn’t turn back. 

 

 

Monty started attending every rehearsal he could, even the ones Raven told him he didn’t have to go to. He found he really enjoyed watching the process -- the face Lincoln made whenever he thought really hard about a particular piece of stage business, the look of satisfaction Anya tried to hide when the cast aced a dance number, the slip-ups when actors broke character for any reason at all… he could appreciate every part of it. He could see why Raven dedicated so much of her free time to the musical each fall, and he found he was willing to donate just as much of his own.

Monty found that scenes were better when the cast wasn’t aware of his presence, and those rehearsals gave him the most insight on what the lighting might look like. He filled page after page with notes and ideas, scratching out old ones and replacing them with better ones and, a few weeks later when set pieces started going up, replacing  _ those _ ones due to changes in blocking.

Several people from the cast had started speaking to Monty in the halls, and he had been invited to join the table of theatre kids at lunch. His new friends were great, and he was increasingly more glad that Raven had been so insistent on his helping her. Clarke Griffin, the actress playing Elle, had even invited him to her 17th birthday party (now  _ that  _ had been an experience -- Clarke’s family was quite well-off and her house was  _ gigantic _ , and plus there was a shirtless Nathan Miller, which made Monty go a little weak in the knees).

Nate had begun to pay quite a lot of attention to Monty since that party, and the younger boy was definitely not complaining. He noticed everything Nate did, from the soft passing smiles to his clever ad-libbing when he dropped lines at rehearsal. And Nate noticed Monty, more than anyone else had ever noticed Monty. They shared knowing glances when Lexa and Clarke got into one of their heated arguments (they’d bet on how long it would take the two girls to finally get together, and Nate had paid Monty ten dollars when their relationship became official two weeks later). They stood beside one another when Raven made Monty join the warm-up circle with her. Monty knew that Nate’s deep brown eyes flecked with gold when they caught sunlight, and he knew that the smile which lit up the older boy’s face in the same manner was reserved only for him.

He just didn’t exactly know how to handle that information, so he chose to ignore it. It’s not like someone who looked like Nate did and was as genuine and kind and  _ wonderful _ as Nate could ever actually think of little Monty Green as anything other than a friend.

He was just Monty Green, and that was all.

 

 

Monty hated that he was so jealous of Clarke Griffin.

It wasn’t even because she was rich, or that she had an adorable little sister and super nice parents who catered to her every whim. No, it was something much stupider than that, something Monty wished he didn’t want so badly. 

Clarke got to kiss Nate.

The first time Monty watched the finale, he had thought he was prepared. He’d only been going to rehearsals for a couple of weeks and didn’t really know anyone too well as of yet -- that is, except for Nate who had made damn sure Monty knew him -- and he didn’t really expect to be too affected by what happened in the scene. But when Elle proposed to Emmett and the two kissed, Monty found himself tensing from head to toe; his jaw clenched and his fists balled up of their own accord, and he had to get up and go for a water break before he felt alright again. That was when he really knew the extent of his feelings for Nate Miller.

It wasn’t even like he could possibly have thought anything was happening between Nate and Clarke. In one of the first conversations they had, Nate had informed him that not only was he, quote, “extra gay” (at which revelation Monty’s pulse decided to betray him and start racing), but also that Bryan was his ex-boyfriend and he resented the brunet for even auditioning for this show, let alone getting a role. Monty could also clearly see the way Clarke looked at Lexa whenever she was watching a scene between her and Bellamy. In short, he  _ knew _ nothing would even happen between her and Nate in a million years. But it still made him feel atrociously jealous to see them act like they were in love.

Monty had to witness this kiss a total of eight times during that rehearsal, and several more times than he cared to count throughout later rehearsals. He wished he was smart enough to at least look away.

  
  


 

Raven had taken to teasing him about Nate when she was present. He hadn’t told her anything at all, but she had known him since they were six and was probably more in-tune with his emotions than he himself. “You like him,” she said one evening, poking Monty in the arm as he stared slack-jawed at Nate as the older boy belted out “Chip On My Shoulder.” Clarke sat in front of him on the block they were using as a bench until the real prop could be painted and placed.

“What?” he said distractedly, paying much more attention to Nate’s smooth singing voice than Raven’s words. “No I don’t.”

“You totally do. You have hardly stopped talking about him for weeks and currently I think you might be starting to drool.”

Monty’s mouth clicked shut and his head snapped to the side faster than he’d intended. “You can’t say anything,” he pleaded. “This stays between us, you have to promise.”

Raven nodded once. “You know I know you better than anyone, and I don’t see you like this very often. I think you should go for it.”

Monty could do nothing but blink. He felt his jaw drop open again at his best friend’s advice, and of course Nate had to pick that moment to finish his song and dazzle the whole cast and crew with the ridiculous high note at the end. His cheeks burned as he continued to stare at Raven, who inclined her head towards the stage as if saying,  _ “you know you want to go for it, Mon.” _

Lincoln and Marcus, the music director, decided to call rehearsal there. Monty was still stunned, but gathered his things and zipped up his windbreaker nonetheless. Raven slipped away with a pat on his head, and not a moment later her small hand was replaced with one much larger.

Monty jumped. His hands quaked slightly as he looked up to meet Nate’s eyes in the dim theatre. “What did you think of that scene run?” he asked. Monty was convinced he was only asking for objective purposes, but the way he said it implied that he wanted  _ Monty’s  _ opinion.

“You get better at that number every time you sing it.”

“Really?”

“Yeah, really. The high notes at the end used to be kind of crackly but I can tell you’ve been working on it a lot and it sounds a lot cleaner now. Honestly the whole song just keeps getting better and I can’t wait to see what the scene is like when you guys finally have props to work with.” Monty definitely didn’t mean to ramble, but it was kind of a given around Nate at this point.

He slung his backpack over his right shoulder as he and Nate started walking. “I’ve seen the beginnings of the bench and I’m really excited for what it’s going to look like. Honestly everything just looks like it’s going to be incredible. We should have the sets by next week.”

“Then Raven and I can finally start programming some light cues,” Monty said. “It’s been starting to stress me out a little how close the show is getting.”

Nate squeezed Monty’s shoulder. It was an effort to comfort him, but the younger boy simply tensed even further under his grip. “Mon, are you okay?” he asked.

“Um, I’m fine, what are you talking about? Absolutely nothing is wrong besides a little stress, like I said. Why would there be anything wrong? Nothing’s wrong.”

“Okay… whatever you say.” Nate eyed him warily, but didn’t press. They stepped outside into the fall air and Monty shivered, not from the cold so much as from the single beam of sunlight that filtered its way through Nate’s long eyelashes and reflected off the gold flecks in his eyes.

The older boy moved his hand from Monty’s shoulder and draped his entire arm across instead. “Here, let me warm you up a little,” he offered.

“Really, Nate, I’m fine, I promise.”

“You’re shivering, Monty, come on.”

“Oh, hey look, Raven waited for me after all,” Monty said in an effort to escape what was soon to be a painfully awkward situation for him. He turned under Nate’s arm and gave the boy a quick hug before dashing off with a far too loud cry of, “Bye, Nate!”

Raven stood by her car, smirking. “That hurt me to watch. You know that, right?”

“Shut up,” Monty grumbled.

“Aw, look, he’s smiling. That’s so cute, Mon, look, you made Miller do a cute thing!”

Monty didn’t want to look. He knew the sight would make his heart do acrobatics and that wasn’t something he could handle any more of on that day. He ducked his head and sat in the passenger seat without a word.

Raven shrugged. “Okay, your loss I guess,” she said, climbing in on her own side and starting the ignition. She tried to continue talking to Monty, but as she pulled out of her parking spot, he cranked the radio, unwilling to think about how bad he was at feelings and cute boys any longer.

 

 

Two weeks before the show opened, Monty and Raven were finally able to start programming lights. The set had slowly been coming together for the past week and a half, and the cast was finally able to do full run-throughs of the show with most, if not all of their props. Watching scenes from the light booth made everything seem that much more real, and Monty was quite distracted the whole rehearsal by the changed dynamic on the stage.

“Things are really coming along,” he commented to Raven at the act break. Lincoln had given everyone a fifteen minute break, but the two of them were planning to take the time to test out a few lighting ideas without distracting the actors, so they remained in the booth. She nodded, more focused on the work in front of her than what he was saying.

“Things might be coming along, but they’ll be performing in the dark if you don’t get your head out of your ass and stop staring at Miller long enough to help me out.”

Monty blushed. “I wasn’t staring at him.”

“Right. And you completely stopped moving every time he came onstage for some other completely unrelated reason.”

Cheeks burning, Monty moved their notebook so he could get a better look at it. He flicked a couple switches and slid the sliders to the appropriate positions, washing the stage in a soft pinkish light. Raven looked up at the stage and made a face. “I don’t think we put gels in enough of the lights,” she said. “It doesn’t look pink enough.”

“Raven, if we put any more gels in, the stage would always be a little pink. We figured that out a week ago. You know that.”

“Maybe that wouldn’t be a bad thing…”

“Raven.”

“Miller might look good tinted pink, you never know.”

“Raven!” Monty cried. “Someone’s gonna hear you one of these times and my life is going to be ruined.”

“I’m sure you’d survive,” she said, and stuck out her tongue at him.

Someone knocked on the window by Monty’s head then, and he jolted so hard that his swivel chair tipped and rolled out from underneath him. As the chair sent him sprawling to the floor, he could hear not only Raven’s hysterical laughter, but another person’s through the window. Monty sat up slowly, groaning at the discomfort of landing on piles of miscellaneous cords, and was met with the sight of Nate’s face crinkled beautifully. He could do nothing but let his head thunk back down to the floor.

Raven stepped over him before reaching to open the window Nate stood in front of, still laughing. The sound was almost as good as hearing the older boy sing, and Monty could hardly bear it. His crush hadn’t let up in the slightest, even when he had attempted to ignore Nate and force himself out of it. If anything, it was only getting worse as he continued to see him more and more often.

Now, though, the boy was apologizing for the mishap he had accidentally caused, though his lasting chuckles made the apology sound less sincere than it was. Monty sat up and caught Nate’s gaze, looking blankly at him as he said, “If I broke myself, you’re paying for my medical bills.”

This only made Nate laugh even harder, and  _ wow. _ Monty didn’t think he’d ever seen Nate laugh this much at one time. To know he was the cause of it made pride swell inside him, for reasons he couldn’t really understand. 

It took several minutes for the older boy to pull himself together. It was enough time for Monty to pick himself up off the floor and retrieve his swivel chair, and for he and Raven to program a few more light cues. He threw himself into the work for what little time they had to really focus, and didn’t even notice that Nate had disappeared from the window until he was turning the handle on the booth’s door and nearly making Monty jump out of his skin a second time.

Nate caught him by the shoulder as he tripped on a stray cord. “Now that I think I’m done laughing I wanted to really apologize. I didn’t mean to scare you, Mon.”

“It’s really fine, I’m honestly surprised that hasn’t happened before now. Although I maybe could have done without…” he trailed off, checking the clock, “four solid minutes of you cackling at my incompetence.”

“Oh, shut up,” Nate said, “I’m trying to apologize here!”

Monty distantly heard Raven make a comment about a bathroom break, but he wasn’t concerned with where she was headed, just that he and Nate were alone.

Monty turned to directly face him, putting on his very best serious face (kind of impossible with Nate in his personal space, but he did what he could) and taking Nate’s hand off his shoulder. “Nathan, I humbly accept your apology.” The other boy’s face softened into a relaxed smile, one he saved for Monty. “But don’t let it happen again.”

Monty only realized he’d forgotten to let go of Nate’s hand when Nate brought their clasped hands up to his mouth. Monty saw him kiss the back of his hand but could hardly feel the sensation because suddenly his entire body felt like it was on fire. He knew he was blushing again but he couldn’t find it in him to care.

“No promises, dear Monty. But I shall do my best,” Nate said, dropping Monty’s hand back at his side.

In the house, Lincoln called a two minute warning. Nate shook his head as though he were coming out of a daze. “You should probably go,” Monty said quietly, “before Lincoln gets all Angry Dad on you again.”

Nate said nothing, but met Monty’s eyes with an emotion Monty couldn’t read. Before the younger boy could react, Nate had pulled him into a hug.

They’d hugged before, sure, but with Monty’s body already buzzing from the kiss on his hand, it was definitely not the same. He was mostly prepared for it though, or so he thought, but then Nate  _ didn’t let go  _ and Monty  _ didn’t know what to do.  _

His body seemed to have its own idea, for somehow he ended up squeezing even tighter and not letting go either. When Raven came back and their arms were still wrapped around each other, she cleared her throat to catch their attention.

Monty jerked back in surprise and looked up at Nate’s face. The older boy’s hands rested on his ribcage and he met his eyes and smiled his secret smile again. Monty decided in that moment that he quite liked that smile, meant only for him.

“Miller, you might want to go do that acting thing you’re supposed to be doing right now,” Raven reminded him.

Nate looked as though he’d momentarily forgotten where he was meant to be, and when he registered it, he uttered a quiet “Shit, I gotta go,” and dashed out the door.

Raven pursed her lips and raised an eyebrow. “And what did I just interrupt?”

“I couldn’t tell you if I tried,” Monty answered honestly, staring, unblinking, into the front row of the house where Lincoln sat.

“I could tell you what it looked like, if you wanted.”

“I wish you wouldn’t, Raven.” Monty knew he couldn’t hear her thoughts on the situation, or he wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it.

Hell, he already wouldn’t be able to stop thinking about it, or about Nate in general.

He was probably screwed.

 

 

This was it. The final dress rehearsal before  _ Legally Blonde  _ was open to the public. They had a small audience sitting in the first two rows of the house, made up of a few students whose English teacher had offered extra credit for attending the invited dress or any of the performances. But otherwise, the seats were empty for the last time.

Monty was still nervous, though. What if he or Raven or Wick messed something up in the dress rehearsal and the kids who were there told everyone else not to come? Then it would be  _ their  _ fault that the spring show would have a low budget. He had nearly worked himself into a panic with thoughts like these, sitting in the corner of the makeup room with his head between his knees, when someone came and took a seat beside him, resting a hand on his back and rubbing gently.

“Nate,” Monty mumbled, head still between his knees, “what are you doing? Go get ready, I’ll survive on my own.”

“Monty, you’re on the brink of a panic attack, you’re not fine. What is it?” Nate responded, clearly not convinced. 

The younger boy finally decided to look up, expecting to see a teasing expression on Nate’s face, but there was only concern. “It’s just…” he started to say, not exactly sure how to put his thoughts into words. He eventually settled on, “What if I fuck up?”

“Monty, it’s just a dress rehearsal. Even if you do something wrong, no one will hold it against you.”

“But what if the kids in the audience tell their friends not to come?” Monty could hardly bring his voice above a whisper.

“Fuck ‘em,” Nate said bluntly. “If people could change their mind about seeing a show because of one botched light cue, then it wasn’t worth having them in the audience in the first place.”

As Nate rubbed his back and spoke so calmly to him, Monty could feel his breathing come easier. Maybe this wouldn’t be so bad after all. “You know what? You’re right.”

“I am, on occasion,” the other boy said, smiling Monty’s favorite smile.

“Fuck ‘em.” Monty repeated Nate’s earlier words, feeling much more confident now than he had ten minutes prior.

“Exactly. Now I really should make Clarke paint my face up, or I’m going to be late for warm-ups.” Nate pulled Monty towards him, into a sort of half-hug, before dropping a kiss into his hair and standing to go look for the blonde girl.

Monty was planning to get up as well, no longer having to isolate himself in the corner, but at the other boy’s gesture he found himself frozen, this time not out of anxiety but confusion. He scanned the room quickly, but not one of the dozen people scattered around the makeup room appeared to have noticed anything out of the ordinary, or if they did, weren’t planning on making a comment.

Monty scrubbed his face with his hands for a moment before finally finding the will to stand from his curled up position on the floor. As he did, both his kneecaps popped from being locked at the same angle for so long. He twisted his body to make his back do the same. When he finished this small task, he faced forward again, only to find himself face to face with Madi Griffin, Clarke’s little sister and the youngest member of the cast.

“Oh, hey Madi,” he greeted, only slightly caught off-guard at her sudden presence.

“Hi Monty!” she replied, her stage makeup causing her clearly excited expression to look even more animated.

“What’s up?”

“Well, I was wondering… since it’s the last dress rehearsal and all that…”

Monty eyed the girl suspiciously. “What are you getting at here?”

“Will you please let me do your makeup?” she asked. “I’m almost all ready, I just have to put on my costume and check my props! And there’s still so much time until places!”

Monty grimaced. This was yet another reason no one would ever find him on a stage performing. He had worn makeup once before, hated every second of it, and swore never to do it again. But the freshman girl’s repeated begging of “Please, Monty?” won out in the end, even as Monty silently cursed himself for being such a pushover.

“Okay, fine,” he said, resigned. “But this is the  _ only  _ time, got it? And I have to be in the booth by 6:30, so you have to make it quick.”

Madi’s face brightened. “Okay! I’ll go finish getting ready and I’ll be right back!” She practically bounced away, and though Monty was definitely not excited to have makeup slathered all over his face, he did feel a little less dread knowing that Madi was so excited about doing his makeup.

She returned not ten minutes later, in her costume and with her shiny blue makeup bag and a couple of other products from the school’s makeup bin in hand. She beckoned Monty over to a stool along the far wall. “Ready?” she asked once he had taken a seat.

“As I’m going to be, I suppose.”

Madi grinned and started working, pulling out various products and tools that Monty could hardly tell the difference between.

She talked to him as she applied the makeup to his face. Other cast members filtered in and out of the room, chuckling when they saw what Madi was up to. But after about twenty minutes, they were virtually alone in the makeup room, save for John Murphy and his girlfriend Emori who were likely paying little to no attention to them.

“So Monty, I’ve been meaning to ask you something for a couple of weeks now, but I haven’t gotten the chance yet,” Madi said, changing the subject quite abruptly.

“Um, okay, and what is that?” Monty tried to make a face, but the look Madi shot him made him stop. She was definitely Clarke’s sister, no doubt about that.

For a moment, the girl looked as though she were pondering just how to ask the question. The silence was just beginning to make Monty nervous when she blurted, “Are you and Miller dating?”

Monty nearly fell off the stool, which would have been especially bad seeing as Madi was millimeters away from his eye with the eyeliner pencil. “What are you talking about, Madi?” he demanded. “Where did you get that idea?”

Madi shrugged before continuing with the eyeliner. “I mean, I overheard Clarke and Bellamy talking about it, but a lot of people have been asking questions. It started a couple of weeks ago when Miller almost missed his cue because he was back in the light booth.

Monty’s memory flickered back to that day -- the one Raven had been teasing him about for weeks. It was no surprise that she’d mentioned it to Bellamy, which of course then meant that Clarke  _ and  _ Bellamy’s sister Octavia knew about it. And Octavia couldn’t keep a secret to save her life, so she had probably told at least a few other people in the cast. Which meant exactly what Monty was fearing. “Does  _ everyone  _ think that?” he asked cautiously, trying not to move his face out of fear that the black pencil would stab him in the eye. 

Madi lifted the pencil, studying the line she’d just made before apparently accepting it and moving to the other eye. “I mean, as far as I know no one thinks they know anything definitely. But let me just say I’m surprised you or Miller hasn’t heard anyone say anything yet.”

Monty felt his cheeks heating up. “Well, um… we aren’t. Dating, I mean. I don’t know why that’s what people are saying, because it’s not true and as far as I know neither of us have done or said anything that would make people think anything else. I’m not sure that’s what you wanted me to say but that’s the truth.”

“So that moment in the corner earlier, that was nothing, hm?” Madi quirked an eyebrow, her tongue poking out from between her lips as she tried to make the two eyeliner lines even.

Monty swallowed thickly. “You saw that? I didn’t think anyone saw that.”

“You should really be more subtle if you don’t want people to ask questions,” Madi told him. “Now, blink when I tell you to or you will get stabbed by the mascara wand.”

Monty obeyed, scared to even speak as she pulled the wand out of its tube. “But in all seriousness, Monty,” she continued, “if you and Miller want to date I don’t think there’s a single person in this cast and crew that would not be fine with that. You don’t have to sneak around and try to hide it, especially since you’re doing such a terrible job that even this naive little freshman girl figured it out.”

He waited until Madi had finished with the mascara before he spoke, blinking repeatedly to try and get used to the clumpy black liquid drying on his eyelashes. “I’m telling you, Madi, we’re  _ not  _ dating. Why would I lie about something like this?”

Of course, who but Nate walked in at that moment. “Who are you not dating?” he asked curiously, taking in the sight before him. “Because if you’re trying to woo someone with the look you’ve got going on it might not be the best outcome.”

Madi smirked as Monty rushed to inform Nate, “Nobody! I’m definitely not dating anyone! Single as single can be, that’s me.” He made eye contact with Murphy from across the room as he spoke. The other boy and his girlfriend had definitely been paying attention the whole time, much to Monty’s dismay, and he now shot him a dry look at his awkward cover-up. 

Madi stayed dutifully silent, digging around in her makeup bag for lipstick. 

“Well, I suppose that’s good information to know,” Nate responded, and Monty mentally slapped himself for being so obviously infatuated with the older boy in front of him. He simply shrugged and waited for Madi to pick a lipstick color for him, not having anything else to say that would not be incriminating.

“Pucker up,” she said eventually, uncapping a tube of red lipstick. Monty was entirely conscious of Nate’s eyes on him the entire time Madi was applying the color, and he didn’t know whether or not he should be uncomfortable with that.

Madi finished off with another layer of the spray she had begun with, and then proceeded to pack her makeup up and whisk it away, leaving the two to talk.

“Nice look,” Nate said with a chuckle.

“Shut up,” Monty grumbled. “She guilted me into it.”

“I’m serious, though, she did a good job. Look in the mirror.” Monty didn’t want to see what his face looked like, but Nate took him by the elbow and turned him to face the mirror. They stood side by side, and it was then that Monty remembered Nate was wearing his stage makeup as well, so they could look ridiculous together.

And then Monty stiffened at even thinking the word  _ together  _ in the context of him and Nate, thanks to what Madi had said. But Nate didn’t seem to notice the difference, so Monty continued the conversation. “Wow,” he said, “I actually don’t look like a Dumpster fire for once in my life.”

Nate looked at him, the faintest hint of a smile lingering on his lips. “You never look like a Dumpster fire, Mon,” he said quietly, sounding so  _ fond  _ that Monty was momentarily unsure of what to do. So he made a face, which was meant to communicate  _ I beg to differ  _ but instead just made Nate laugh, the same beautiful laugh from the light booth weeks before.

Murphy looked away from Emori again for a moment, only to say wryly, “You know, Monty, you should really be more subtle if you don’t want people to ask questions.”

“Shut  _ up,  _ Murphy,” Monty cried, and then, “Oh shit, I have to be in the booth like five minutes ago!”

Without thinking, Monty collided with Nate in a halfhearted hug that the older boy didn’t even get a chance to return before he was dashing off to be where he needed to be, ignoring the makeup still plastered on his face.

He’d have to field the questions from Raven, sure, but this time he at least had a few of his own to fire back about the rumors of he and Nate.

 

 

The final dress rehearsal had gone without any hiccups or flubbed lines, and Monty found that he was no longer even the slightest bit nervous for the opening performance. He felt jittery the whole day, more excitement coursing through him than he had ever felt at one time. 

“Good lord, Mon, you’re gonna smack someone if you keep talking with your hands like that,” Raven pointed out at lunch that day. He was sandwiched between Clarke and Nate at a table meant for far fewer than the fourteen people that were currently squeezed around it, and Raven was right -- each time he talked, his hands went flailing wildly. He had nearly knocked Clarke’s seltzer water over at least three times and had accidentally thrown a potato chip at Octavia, who’d shot him a steely glare before launching a spoonful of yogurt at his face and breaking down into giggles.

“Ugh, you’re right, sorry, sorry!” Monty apologized for what must have been the fifth time already in the ten minutes they had been at the table. “I just don’t know how to channel this weird jittery excitement shit.”

Nate licked his lips and patted Monty’s shoulder. He leaned into the touch subconsciously as he listened to Nate’s words. “Stick around us and you’ll get used to pre-show jitters.”

As it was, Nate had hardly eaten any of the food in front of him. Monty nodded at the sandwich with a single bite taken out of it. “You need to eat, you know, Nate,” he said softly, trying to prevent the others from hearing him. Clarke scoffed anyway, but said nothing.

“I’ll eat something later, I promise. I’m just getting nervous.”

“Nate, you’re only going to be more nervous later. Please eat. And besides, I already know that you’re going to perform brilliantly just like you would any other time.”

“You’re just saying that, Monty,” Nate insisted.

“Would I ever lie to you?” Nate’s hand had dropped moments before, so Monty took the opportunity to bump his shoulder against the other boy’s. “Come on. I promise it can only be helpful if you eat this sandwich.”

Nate looked directly into Monty’s eyes, and at this distance it only made Monty’s hands tremble even more than his jitters already were. The sunlight filtered through the high windows in the cafeteria at just the perfect angle to catch Nate’s face and bring out the green and gold flecks in his eyes and God, Monty was  _ so gone  _ for the boy before him, but he could do nothing about it, especially since his conversation with Madi the day prior.

Before he could register what exactly was happening, Nate had reached over and grasped Monty’s hand in his under the table, giving it a squeeze. And then the moment dissipated, for the older boy turned to his food and slowly took another bite of his sandwich.

But he didn’t let go of Monty’s hand for the rest of the lunch period.

 

 

Monty, Raven, and Wick watched from the booth. The performance was even better than the previous night. Clarke as Elle was throwing out every one-liner with an extra hint of sass, and her on-stage relationship with Miller’s Emmett was the most genuine it had ever been. Every light and sound cue was exactly on time. Monty could not have been happier with the turnout.

After the show, the three tech crew members reset the lighting and sound cues for the next night’s show and ran out to the lobby to congratulate the performers. Monty lost track of nearly everyone he knew, too swept up in the crowd to find anyone. Eventually he came across Bellamy, Octavia, Clarke, and Madi, surrounded by their families. He slipped in among the group to give his four friends celebratory hugs, Bellamy’s so vigorous that Monty felt himself be lifted a couple of inches off the floor.

Monty milled around, congratulating each cast member he came across. He received more hugs in those ten minutes than he remembered receiving through the entire rehearsal process. Even Lexa, stony-faced as she usually remained, grinned and hugged him tightly. But there was one face he couldn’t seem to find anywhere. He searched for Emmett’s tan suit coat in the slowly-dwindling crowd, but there was no sign of him.

After a few minutes of searching, Monty gave up, opting to go back to the dressing rooms instead. Nate was there alone, hanging his costumes back on the rack, when Monty entered. “Hey, stranger,” he said. 

The older boy startled slightly. “Oh hey, Mon,” he said slowly, “why aren’t you out with everyone else?”

Monty shrugged. “I saw pretty much the whole cast already. I was looking for you.”

When Nate turned around, Monty could see he looked drained rather than elated like everyone else in the cast. “Nate. What’s wrong?”

“Nothing, Monty, I’m fine,” he insisted.

“You’re not fine, you look like you’ve seen a ghost.”

Nate took a deep, measured breath. “I swear, it’s nothing.”

Monty stepped closer, and when the older boy didn’t move away, walked all the way to him. “You’re in here, all alone, instead of celebrating with everyone out there. There has to be something wrong.” He rubbed circles into Nate’s back, trying to calm him down.

Nate whispered something, but Monty didn’t catch it.

“What was that?”

“Crowds,” he mumbled, barely above a whisper. “I don’t do well in big crowds, I get all claustrophobic, and this crowd is bigger than any other one I’ve seen and I freaked out.”

“Oh, Nate,” Monty said, matching the other boy’s tone. “Can I hug you? Is that alright?”

Nate nodded, and Monty gathered him into his arms. He was shaking, something Monty hadn’t noticed before. He just held him there for as long as he needed, continuing the comforting circles on his back and breathing gently into his neck.

“See, Nate? You’re alright, everything is fine. The crowd is out there, but in here it’s just you and me, okay? Just you and me.”

Nate broke their embrace and held Monty at arm’s length, listening to the younger boy repeated those same four words, slower and slower. Their eyes met, and Monty stopped speaking. His mouth hung open loosely, as though he simply couldn’t be bothered to close it fully, and Nate stared back at him, unblinking.

The moment was reminiscent of earlier that day at lunch, and though this time there was no sunlight to catch brown eyes and give them the kaleidoscope of colors Monty was so fond of, he still found himself thinking about Nathan Miller’s eyes. Even in the dim fluorescent lights of the dressing room, they were beautiful.

Monty found himself leaning in of his own accord, tiptoeing slightly to reach Nate’s height. They were mere millimeters apart when the dressing room door banged open, causing Monty to flail in surprise and jump back at least a foot from where he had been standing.

“Well don’t stop on my account,” Murphy said dryly, standing in the doorway with a bored look on his face. “I’ve seen this coming for weeks now.”

Monty felt his cheeks reddening yet again as he spluttered, “What are you talking about, Murphy?”

Murphy rolled his eyes, looking back and forth between Monty and Nate before settling on Monty. “Were you  _ not  _ present for your conversation with Madi yesterday?”

“What conversation with Madi yesterday?” Nate asked, color having returned to his cheeks and his knowing smirk across his lips.

Monty didn’t know what to say. “Um.”

“Well, you see…” Murphy started, immediately knocking Monty out of his stupor.

“Madi said that there have been rumors going around for weeks that we’re… together, like. A couple.” Monty felt his cheeks go even redder as he spoke. “I let her know that wasn’t true, but she didn’t seem to believe me and uh. Yeah.”

He risked a look at Nate, who appeared to be just as embarrassed as he was, staring intently at his hands and picking at the skin around one of his fingers. “Oh,” he said.

“I knew you’d be uncomfortable that people thought that about us and I did my best to clear it up but I don’t think I did a very good job and--”

“Monty,” Nate said, effectively shutting Monty up. “I’m the furthest thing from uncomfortable with the idea of us.”

Monty reeled in shock. “You… you are?” he said, dumbfounded.

“I literally just walked in on you two about to kiss,” Murphy said. “I’m not sure why there’s so much confusion.”

“Shut  _ up, _ Murphy,” Monty and Nate said, practically in stereo.

Others began to trickle into the dressing rooms then, effectively ending the conversation. But now that Monty knew that he was so wrong about the way Nate felt about him… well, there was only so much waiting he would be able to do.

He hugged the few remaining cast members he’d yet to see -- including Brian, though that was awkward for more than one reason -- and waited in the hallway by the door to the parking lot for Nate to come out of the dressing room.

It was only a few minutes, but it felt like an eternity. When the older boy finally entered the hallway, Monty instantly gravitated towards him.

“Did you need something?” Nate asked innocently, though the mischievous glint in his eyes said otherwise.

“Oh nothing, just thought I’d continue from where Murphy so rudely interrupted us… that is, if you’ll allow it.” Monty sidled closer, wrapping his arms around Nate’s lower back.

“I would like nothing more,” Nate said, leaning down until their noses were touching.

Monty closed the gap between them. He had never felt like such a cliché in his entire life, but in that moment he certainly did. Bursts of electricity coursed through his veins as he pulled Nate closer and finally, finally kissed him. He was moments away from picturing literal fireworks going off in his head ( _ too many cheesy romance movies with Raven,  _ he concluded) when Nate broke the kiss and smiled his brilliant smile down at the younger boy.

Monty didn’t think any night could ever be better than this one.

 

 

The weekend after the show, the cast and crew all found themselves in the basement of the Griffin household, curled up on various pieces of furniture or floor with several tables of food at the back of the room. They had put the  _ Legally Blonde  _ DVD in the player and it played softly in the background, though most weren’t paying attention to it.

Monty and Nate were not currently interacting. Nate and Bellamy were tied up in an intense game of table tennis against Clarke and Octavia, and Monty was off in a corner with Raven and Madi, the latter of whom was interrogating him about Nate and the former was answering all the questions for him. This left Monty blushing a furious shade of red and trying helplessly to catch Nate’s eye from across the room.

“Trust me, Madi, if he was going to tell anyone the truth about the situation, it would be me. I would say I know almost as well as Monty himself,” Raven said, flicking her long braid over her shoulder.

Madi giggled. “Jeez, it’s almost like  _ you’ve  _ kissed Miller.”

“Well, with the way Mon’s been raving about it, I’d say I pretty much have.”

“Raven, come on,” Monty grumbled. “I haven’t been talking about it  _ that  _ much.”

“Monty. It’s been a week and you haven’t gone more than six hours without texting me about Miller and how much you wanna kiss him again.”

Madi said nothing, but continued to giggle. Monty slumped further down against the wall, folding in on himself as much as he physically could. “That’s not even true. It’s only been like once a day, maybe.”

Raven raised an eyebrow. “Shall I go through our text history?”

It was a challenge, and Monty knew it. He shot forward and reached for Raven’s phone, but she was too fast and held it out of his reach, unlocking it and opening her texts to Monty’s conversation.

“Raven, I swear to fucking-- if you  _ read _ those out loud, I’ll murder your ass. Brutally.” He continued to try to reach for the phone and fail.

She did, in fact, start reading some of the texts aloud, but not at a volume which caught the attention of the others, to Monty’s relief. “Ugh, Raven,” she read, “I just can’t stop thinking about it. It’s like I try to pay attention to anything and my mind just keeps going back to that moment, and I just get all stupid all over again.”

“Raven, shut up!” Monty yelped. This still didn’t draw much attention, save for Murphy, who now thought it necessary to add his own commentary.

“What’s the problem, Monty? Trying to hide something from us?”

“I’m not--” he paused, reaching again for the phone as Raven laughed,” hiding anything! I’d just prefer not to be completely mortified if I can help it.”

“Well, perhaps if your friend  _ Nate  _ weren’t so busy losing at ping-pong, you wouldn’t have to worry about it.”

Nate whipped around at the use of his first name and completely missed the ball Clarke had just aimed directly at him. “Murphy, why the fuck are you using my first name?” he asked.

“Well, I figure if Monty’s allowed to call you Nate, then we all are, yeah?” he answered, prompting Nate to walk away from the game completely.

“Monty is the only one who has permission here, and I think you know that.”

Monty watched wide-eyed, not sure where the conversation was headed. Everyone in the room was paying full attention to them now.

“Special permission, hm?” Murphy said dryly. “I think we all need a little clarification here, Miller.”

“Nate, just leave it alone,” Monty spoke softly, touching Nate’s kneecap from his place on the floor in an attempt to calm him.

Nate ignored him, speaking lowly and directly into Murphy’s face. “Stop being a dick. Monty is allowed to call me by my name because Monty is my boyfriend, and the permission to call me anything other than Miller ends there.”

Monty nearly choked on his own saliva. “Boyfriend?” he whispered, and his eyes widened further than he really was aware they could.

Madi and Raven were the only ones to hear him, and in response they practically cooed. “Is this a confession?” Raven asked incredulously.

The entire room was silent for just a moment as they processed what had just happened. Nate backed away from Murphy and helped Monty up off the floor. “I definitely meant for that to happen a different way, but… if you’ll have me, I’d love for you to be my boyfriend, Monty.”

Their voices were quiet, but everyone around them listened intently as Monty replied, “Are you kidding? Of course I will, you big oaf,” with the biggest smile he could muster.

And when Nate kissed him again, in front of everyone, he could no longer find it in him to be embarrassed.

Yeah, agreeing to help Raven with lighting was  _ definitely _ one of Monty’s better ideas.

**Author's Note:**

> cast list!  
> (the characters who don't canonically have last names have ones I made up, purely because of the list's aesthetic and nothing more hahah)
> 
> Elle Woods ----- Clarke Griffin  
> Emmett Forrest ------ Nathan Miller  
> Paulette Bonafonté ----- Luna Rivers  
> Professor Callahan ----- Finn Collins  
> Warner Huntington III ----- Bellamy Blake  
> Vivienne Kensington ----- Lexa Woods  
> Brooke Wyndham ----- Niylah Murphy  
> Serena, Margot, Pilar ----- Octavia Blake, Harper McIntyre, Gaia Porter  
> Aaron, Enid, Padamadan ----- Wells Jaha, Zoe Monroe, Ilian Buckley  
> Kyle/Grandmaster Chad ----- John Murphy  
> Chutney Wyndham ----- Roma Bragg  
> Elle’s Parents ----- Maya Vie, Bryan Harris  
> Kate ----- Madi Griffin  
> Nikos, Carlos ----- Aden Woods, Myles Grayson  
> Ensemble ----- Emori Green, Maya Vie, Bryan Harris, Fox Robinson, Ontari Black, Aden Woods, Madi Griffin, Gina Martin, Myles Grayson, Echo Carter, Roma Bragg
> 
> creative director: Lincoln DuBois  
> musical director: Marcus Kane  
> choreography: Anya Nash  
> lighting: Raven Reyes, Monty Green  
> sound: Kyle Wick
> 
> anyways, i really hope that you liked this! i put more hard work and effort into this fic than i have anything else for a long while, and i'm quite proud of the outcome, so please, if you have any feedback for me, leave a comment! i would love to hear your thoughts :)
> 
> ~mikki


End file.
